


Sunrise

by ThinkyThink



Category: The Dragon Prince
Genre: First story, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Probably bad but wanted to post it anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-18
Updated: 2018-09-18
Packaged: 2019-07-13 20:39:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16025576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThinkyThink/pseuds/ThinkyThink
Summary: With sunrise comes a conversation, and a revelation





	Sunrise

Rayla sat on the edge of the cliff, looking out over the snow covered forests stretching from the Caldera towards the distant east, towards Xadia. Dawn was just a few minutes away, the pale reds and violets brightening the sky. She took a deep breath, relishing the way the crisp mountain air filled her lungs. It had been a long week, and she was glad for the rest. 

 

“Hey,” Callum said, walking up behind her. “How’s the hand?” He sat down to her left, legs casually slung over the edge.

 

“It’s fine.” Rayla flexed her left hand again, and couldn’t fight the wince of pain from the still sore flesh. The bruise was gonna stay there for a week at least. Still, better to have a painful bruise than a painful stump. “Well, it’s gonna be fine. No fractures in the bone though, that’s good.”

 

“That can happen?” Callum asked. “Geeze, talk about disarming practices.”

 

Rayla snorted. “Binding yourself isn’t supposed to be easy. When life is sacred, swearing to take it should have consequence. There’s actually a few children’s stories about it.”

 

“Huh.” Callum leaned back and drummed his feet against the cliff. “Makes sense. Only one way to get it off, so you have to be ready to go through with it.”

 

“Yeah, pretty much.” She slumped forwards, arms on her knees.

 

They sat there in silence for a minute, no words between them. But it didn’t exactly feel comfortable. There was a tension in the air, words left unsaid that bagged at the back of her mind. Rayla shifted, picking at her left bracer. The ribbon was gone, but she’d already built up a habit.

 

Callum broke the silence first. “He’s dead isn’t he?”

 

“What?” Rayla said, turning to look at him.

 

“King Harrow….my dad. He’s dead.” There was no uncertainty in his voice. “That was what you had wanted to talk about on the ice.”

 

Rayla glanced back over her shoulder, where Ezran, Bait, Aya, Ellis, and Azymondias still slept under the shelter of the tree. Lujanne was already up, the old woman tending to her bird. None of them were within hearing distance.

 

“Yeah,” She said, looking down at her feet. “I….We all took two bindings. One for the father, one for the son.”

 

“I noticed,” Callum said. He leaned back, looking up at the sky pink with sunlight, hands planted to either side of him. “When we were still in Katolis Castle, you had two wristbands. And that other elf, Runaan, I think? He had two on his arms. Then afterwards, you just had the one.” Water welled up at the corner of his eyes, and when he spoke there was a waver in his voice. “It was before we even got to the Banther lodge, wasn’t it?”

 

Rayla didn’t respond right away. Even though he knew, it didn’t make talking to him about it any easier. He was her friend, she could admit that, and she had helped kill his father, sworn to it even. It made things....awkward  

 

“Yeah,” she whispered.

 

“Dammit.” The dam holding Callum’s tears back broke.

 

Callum was a soft crier, shallow breaths fighting their way past his lips as water streamed down his face. His chest heaved, his hands shook, and before she really knew what she was doing Rayla had pulled him into a hug, holding him tight. Arms wrapped tight around her, painfully digging into her ribcage, hands clawing at her shirt. Before long her left shoulder was soaked with snot, but she didn’t mind.

 

Rayla’d never been close to her parents, their lives as part of the Dragon Guard keeping them away for seasons at a time, at best, but she had still cared about them. She had been devastated to learn they had run away, and if Runaan or his Love had died, she knew she’d be even more distraught. She didn’t know what words to say or what sentiment to give, so right now the best she could do was hold him close.

 

She didn’t know how long they’d been like that, but by the time Callum had quieted down the sun had crept well past the horizon.

 

“Thanks Rayla,” Callum said, pulling back from the hug and wiping the last tears from his red eyes.

 

“You’re welcome.” She gave a small, quiet smile. A thought occurred to her, and she glanced over towards the others, to see all of them wide awake and happily biting into red fruits she didn’t recognize. It was like they hadn’t even noticed.

 

“I decided to give you some privacy.” Both teens yelp in surprise, leaping back from where Lujanne had appeared from seemingly nowhere.

 

The illusionist laughed, eyes crinkling at the corners. “It looked to be a personal moment, so I cast a simple illusion to hide your conversation.” Now that Rayla was paying attention, she could feel the weave of magic wrapped around them, like her own assassin’s cloak at night.

 

“Oh, um...well thank you,” Callum said, offering the woman a deferential nod. “But uhhh, we’re fine now, so would you mind dropping the spell?”

 

Lujanne nodded and with a simple snap of her fingers, the spell broke, falling away like beams of moonlight. “You might wish to join them soon, before they eat all of the breakfast.”

 

Rayla started forwards, but paused when Callum didn’t follow. She glanced back at him, and saw the small, sad look on his face.

 

“I’m going to have to tell him,” Callum said, his eyes fixed on Ezran happily eating.

 

Rayla licked her lips. “You....don’t have to tell him right away,” she said, placing her hand on his shoulder. “You need to process it yourself, and we still have to head out soon.”

 

“I….maybe but, I-” Callum started.

 

“Tonight,” Rayla cut him off. “When we settle down to rest.”

 

Callum nodded and smiled at her in wordless thanks, the look on his face melancholy but not distraught.

 

“Now come on.” Rayla grabbed Callum’s hand in her own, pulling off towards the others. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving after climbing a tree, scaling a volcano, and saving an egg from a storm.”


End file.
